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The departure of van Nistelrooy wasn't a sign that United didn't need a central striker - it was a sign they they needed a different one"
In the wake of Ruud van Nistelrooy's £11m switch to Real Madrid there were a lot
of comments asking where Manchester United's goals would come from. Van
Nistelrooy had bagged a phenomenal 150 goals in 5 seasons, despite missing
significant chunks through injury and being out of favour at Old Trafford for large
parts of his final season. Those goals compare very favourably with Thierry Henry
who scored 226 times in his 8 seasons at Arsenal.
Although last season the need for a striker seemed moot as United crashed in
over 80 league goals without recourse to the Dutchman, they still had Henrik
Larsson for 13 games; Alan Smith played in 19 - most notably against Roma - and
Louis Saha drifted in and out of the treatment room yet still appeared 34 times.
All three acted as the very front of the team - and in appearing over 60 times
between them they replaced van Nistelrooy positionally, but played a much more
selfless game. They contributed fewer goals in a team that overall scored many
more. So the departure of van Nistelrooy wasn't a sign that United didn't need a
central striker - it was a sign they they needed a different one.
In 2007/8 Larsson is obviously unavailable, but now Smith has also been sold on
and Giuseppe Rossi has been allowed to leave. With Dong and Campbell not
threatening the first team this really leaves a strikeforce to be created from the
talents of Wayne Rooney, new signing Carlos Tevez and Louis Saha. United have
plenty of creative player who score goals in Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, Ryan
Giggs and Nani - but one of Rooney, Tevez and Saha needs to be the point man.
With Louis Saha so consistently injured there is real need to draft in a player who
can operate as a target man and allow the team to join the attack.
Over the last couple of league games the Tevez and Rooney partnership has
shown signs of coming good with the pair scoring five between them. But an
interesting caveat is that in both games United played without a defensive
midfielder. The pivotal figure in this equation is Anderson who has played
alongside Scholes in both games; this has created a lot more chances - but also
left gaps at the back which better teams would have better exploited.
This is fine if United are prepared to trade goals with every decent team they
play - but not if they want to have success in Europe. One or two deep lying
midfielders are essential in Europe; which points to the need for a striker who
can hold the ball up until help arrives.
If Saha can regain fitness he has all the physical attributes to be a star but he
has barely averaged 20 starts a season at United despite being first choice for
the majority of the time.
If United want success in Europe they must look to bring in an experienced target
man in January; failing that they have to get Saha consistently fit or trust that
they can outscore the likes of Milan whilst playing without defensive cover.
In the wake of Ruud van Nistelrooy's £11m switch to Real Madrid there were a lot
of comments asking where Manchester United's goals would come from. Van
Nistelrooy had bagged a phenomenal 150 goals in 5 seasons, despite missing
significant chunks through injury and being out of favour at Old Trafford for large
parts of his final season. Those goals compare very favourably with Thierry Henry
who scored 226 times in his 8 seasons at Arsenal.
Although last season the need for a striker seemed moot as United crashed in
over 80 league goals without recourse to the Dutchman, they still had Henrik
Larsson for 13 games; Alan Smith played in 19 - most notably against Roma - and
Louis Saha drifted in and out of the treatment room yet still appeared 34 times.
All three acted as the very front of the team - and in appearing over 60 times
between them they replaced van Nistelrooy positionally, but played a much more
selfless game. They contributed fewer goals in a team that overall scored many
more. So the departure of van Nistelrooy wasn't a sign that United didn't need a
central striker - it was a sign they they needed a different one.
In 2007/8 Larsson is obviously unavailable, but now Smith has also been sold on
and Giuseppe Rossi has been allowed to leave. With Dong and Campbell not
threatening the first team this really leaves a strikeforce to be created from the
talents of Wayne Rooney, new signing Carlos Tevez and Louis Saha. United have
plenty of creative player who score goals in Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, Ryan
Giggs and Nani - but one of Rooney, Tevez and Saha needs to be the point man.
With Louis Saha so consistently injured there is real need to draft in a player who
can operate as a target man and allow the team to join the attack.
Over the last couple of league games the Tevez and Rooney partnership has
shown signs of coming good with the pair scoring five between them. But an
interesting caveat is that in both games United played without a defensive
midfielder. The pivotal figure in this equation is Anderson who has played
alongside Scholes in both games; this has created a lot more chances - but also
left gaps at the back which better teams would have better exploited.
This is fine if United are prepared to trade goals with every decent team they
play - but not if they want to have success in Europe. One or two deep lying
midfielders are essential in Europe; which points to the need for a striker who
can hold the ball up until help arrives.
If Saha can regain fitness he has all the physical attributes to be a star but he
has barely averaged 20 starts a season at United despite being first choice for
the majority of the time.
If United want success in Europe they must look to bring in an experienced target
man in January; failing that they have to get Saha consistently fit or trust that
they can outscore the likes of Milan whilst playing without defensive cover.
